My cucumber leaves are curling and crinkling, with silvery scarred patches and the flowers and small fruits are getting a scabby russeted surface. Tiny slender insects are in the flowers. Fruit is deformed. What pest causes this and how do I manage it?
Curled crinkled leaves with silvery scarred patches, scabby russeted fruit and slender insects in the flowers are thrips damage on cucurbits. Thrips rasp the surface and feed in flowers and on young fruit, causing the scarring and deformity, and they can also transmit viruses. Use blue sticky traps to monitor and reduce numbers, spray neem oil for light pressure, and conserve natural enemies by avoiding harsh broad sprays. For heavier infestations use a recommended insecticide such as spinosad or fipronil, rotating modes of action, and target the flowers and growing points where thrips hide. Keep weeds down as they harbour thrips, and avoid water stress which worsens damage. Since the fruit is eaten fresh, follow the label dose and pre-harvest interval, and watch for any virus symptoms which would change the plan. Confirm the pest with a hand lens or your KVK before spraying, as thrips control differs from mite control.
Blue sticky traps worked better than yellow for catching thrips in my cucumber. Good early warning.
Keeping the field edges free of weeds cut my thrips a lot. They were breeding in the weeds and moving in.
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